SAN FRANCISCO HOMICIDE

Published 4:00 am, Saturday, November 18, 1995

1995-11-18 04:00:00 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Less than two weeks before he was shot to death in Hunters Point, Marcell Love asked his aunt to make sure he was buried in the same spot as his slain mother.

"He wanted to be with her, buried right on top of her," said his aunt, Azalea Ikner. Her sister, Edna Mary Ikner, was murdered in February 1977.

No one could have known that Love would get his wish so soon. On May 25 he was found dead, shot in the head and neck about 11 p.m. on the sidewalk outside 111 Bayview Circle. He was one of 78 homicide victims in San Francisco so far this year.

There are no known witnesses to the slaying, and homicide inspectors will say little about the case. But Love's death is believed to be related to the slayings of two of his friends earlier the same week.

The week Love died was San Francisco's bloodiest this year, with five men killed. The deaths spurred police to form a special task force to investigate 32 unsolved killings of African Americans from southeast San Francisco and combat violence in the area.

But so far the crackdown hasn't led police any closer to the people who killed Love or his two friends, Arturo Davis and Geizel Johnson. Police believe the three must have angered some gang members or drug dealers.

Three shooting deaths&lt;

Davis, 31, was the first to die. He was ambushed May 22 as he played basketball at the Upper Noe Recreation Center. About 30 hours later, Johnson, 26, was shot to death by two men waiting outside his Bell Court home on Bayview Hill as he parked his car in his garage.

About 48 hours after Johnson's slaying, the 24-year-old Love was found dead a few blocks away.

Love was convicted of possessing and selling cocaine in October 1989 and spent more than three years in County Jail and state prison. He was paroled in 1993.

His family says he stayed out of trouble after his release and was working as a barber and construction worker. He told people that he wanted to get a good job and provide for his 7-year-old daughter, Keena Williams.

"He wanted to go somewhere and start a new life," Ikner said. "I used to tell him that you need to get away from your old friends and get a new start, but he never did."